I want to know why in a manga there is use of things from the kabbalah like the tree of life design on the gates in Full metal alchemist or use of Hebrew word in magical circles?In some translations, I found some names of cities that are in Hebrew but anglicized.

I blame Evangelion. As far as I know, it was the first anime to use Kabbalah heavily (among few other religious teachings). Thinking of its popularity and legacy, I always assumed that is where it all started.

judaism, & christianity (treating kabbalah within judaism for symbolic uses only) in anime is a trope. I actually haven't researched or heard about this too much so I can't give you too much concrete information on how this started, but it seems to basically be a form of spiritualizing and romanticizing western cultures. basically, its "cool" to see these symbols, and since anime loves to deal with religion (though 'superpowers', demons or the undead) they often just kind of throw them in the visuals and see what sticks, without any real understanding of the meaning behind them (I have seen some ridiculous things, trust me)also, just like darkstrong said, NGE was a really big infulencer in the insertion of western-religious themes into anime, and probably played a big role in why its so popular today

in FME though, I'm pretty sure they just copied typical summoning circles / satanism circles which have hebrew in them from the get-go, i dont think the creators designed new ones (though they mightve, and if they did the origins is probably where they got to using hebrew)

Eh? They use maybe because they want to use it? I'm in agree that in many of them is just random and has little to none fundamentals or importance to the story (except in FME... I study kabballah and hermetitism and the author were competent in portraying the symbology), but they still can do it.

I imagine some of it is the mirror of how western shows used to (and still do lets be honest) include eastern influences and religions as something mystic but not so understood by the target audience because they're not so familiar with it. But also think of how common use of things like angels and demons are in even western works. It's not just anime doing it. Besides NGE, Death Note also put in a lot of western religious symbolism, quite effectively for the most part, so probably also helped with the popularity.And specifically in the case of Full Metal Alchemist, and other shows revolving around alchemy there are clear links between alchemy and religion/spiritualism through the pursuit of understanding.

I think japanese people see religions like the ancient Greeks or Romans saw their own religions, their just giant bags of symbolism that they can use and abuse as they see fit.

@Darkstrongactually, both Akira and ghost in the shell came almost 5 to 10 years before Eva aired and both have biblical references, ghost in the shell particularly has some heavy biblical references, from the tree of life and a rebirth analogy, plus a stand-in for god/angel in the form of the puppet master.

I can't say when it started but I can say that manga has been using the Bible for references way before Eva

-When the citizens of Neo-Tokyo see Tetsuo deflect tank shells and destroy helicopters and tanks, somebody shouts out, "It's the Great Awakening!" while another says, "Don't be fooled! This isn't the Rapture! He's a false messiah!"

-Later, Lady Miyako appears with her entourage and, during the chaos of battle, chants, "Burn all the unclean believers of our time! Give yourselves into the flames, children, you will all be born again. Consume our hearts! Wash our unclean hearts in the eternal fire!"

the scenes I'm referring to occur from approximately 1:06:00 (Tetsuo walking out of the smoke of the exploding helicopter) until 1:08:00 (Nezu's escape), and then 1:10:00 (Miyako's entourage) until 1:12:00 (Tetsuo destroys the bridge). but it may be cut depending on the movie cut you got =P

You are mistaking "referencing something" and "building the whole work around something" (including design, naming convention and even plot). Also, the main question was mainly about Kabbalah, not Bible.

I never said it didn't, borrow from Bible, and if you read my post, I specifically stated, that other religions were used too. But again, the original question was use of Kabbalah in anime and manga, that is why I talked about the anime that heavily used Kabbalah, not animes that somewhat referenced Bible.